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Retail customer attitudes survey 2008
17/06/08
8 out of 10
shoppers are frustrated with queuing and 7 out of 10 would walk out
of a store with long queues without making a purchase
New research commissioned by workforce management expert Kronos
suggests that 84% of shoppers are frustrated with queues at pay
points and 74% of shoppers would actually leave a store without
making a purchase if queues are too long. The “Kronos Retail
Shopping Frustrations Survey” also highlights that 81% of
respondents are likely to share a poor shopping experience with
friends and family, further denting the reputation of the retailer.
The survey takes a look at shopping frustrations across all retail
store types and the effect that a poor shopping experience has on
the consumer and on the retailer’s reputation.
Shopping frustrations
One of the areas examined by the survey is consumer frustrations
when shopping in a supermarket. Queues at the pay point are
frustrating for 84% of respondents; 84% are frustrated by
out-of-stock products; continually changing store layouts irritate
76% of us; and 74% are annoyed by poor quality products. Too few
staff to help on the shop floor irritates 71% of respondents and
unclean and untidy stores get the thumbs down from 77% of consumers.
Consumer attitude to long queues
It’s no surprise that so many shoppers feel frustrated with the
length of time spent queuing in all types of retail stores, but
worryingly for retailers, half of shoppers will turn on their heels
and walk out of a shop where queues are long. The Kronos survey
shows that 49% of respondents say they have walked out of a store
with long queues at the pay point without making a purchase; 25%
have walked out and taken their business elsewhere to find a store
with shorter queues.
The wrong type of queue
The process of queuing is annoying for many shoppers, but it doesn’t
end there. Long queues with unopened pay points are the biggest
queuing frustration for 51% of survey respondents. Picking the
‘wrong’ queue annoys 12% of shoppers and poor service from the staff
at the pay point frustrates 11% of us.
Is there an acceptable queue length?
The survey also reveals what shoppers deem to be an acceptable queue
length with 17% of respondents happy to have one person in front and
44% of respondents agreeing that a maximum of two people is
acceptable. A further 23% of shoppers think its fine to have a
maximum of three people in front of them and 7% of respondents think
it’s acceptable to have up to four other customers queuing in front.
Shoppers share a poor experience
Retailers should be concerned that disgruntled shoppers are unlikely
to keep a poor shopping experience to themselves. Around 81% of
respondents are very likely or quite likely to share their bad
experience with friends and family (43% responded as very likely).
Younger shoppers in the 16-24 age group appear the least likely to
mention a poor shopping experience with friends and family, with 32%
agreeing that they are very likely to do so.
Testing customer loyalty
Not only is a poor shopping experience often shared with others, it
is very likely to erode a customer’s loyalty to a retailer and
increase the likelihood of the customer taking their business
elsewhere. For 50% of respondents feel strongly that continually
out-of-stock products make them less loyal to a retailer and more
likely to shop elsewhere, 42% feel the same way about unhelpful
staff, 38% have their loyalty tested by long queues at the pay
point, and 36% of people feel less loyal and more likely to shop
elsewhere when the retailer appears to be unprepared for busy
periods.
How could the supermarkets improve?
Shoppers have a number of ideas for how supermarkets in particular
could improve the shopping experience. Top of the list was more
checkout staff available at the right times, with 69% of respondents
agreeing that this would improve the experience. Approximately 49%
of respondents agree that better availability of products would
improve things and 35% of respondents would like to see improvements
to the range of products offered. An increase in the number of
express lanes is seen as a key improvement by 35% of respondents and
28% would like to see more knowledgeable staff throughout the store.
Commenting on the findings from the survey, Simon Macpherson,
Operations Director EMEA Kronos, says: “We’ve heard this week from
the British Retail Consortium that consumer confidence has slumped
to a record low. It’s a not a great time for complacency amongst
retailers. It’s no great surprise that we’re all frustrated with
queuing, but retailers need to take notice that many shoppers will
vote with their feet by walking out of stores where queues are long.
Also, shoppers are happy to shout it from the rooftops when the
service provided is not up to scratch, leaving retailers with dented
reputations. Unopened pay points, long queues and out-of-stock
products are almost without exception the result of staff not being
in the right place at the right time to provide the best possible
customer service. Retailers need to address this issue if they are
serious about improving one of the prime differentiators between
their competition - the customer experience.”
“Is it really too much to expect that service standards in retail
stores are world class – not just occasionally or in a handful of
stores, but everywhere, all of the time?” asks Dr Ted Johns,
Chairman of the Institute of Customer Service. “You’d think that
every retailer would aspire to having happy customers 100% of the
time – happy customers mean loyal customers and greater loyalty
brings bigger profits, yet many retailers still fall short when it
comes to providing a great customer shopping experience.”
Nick Gibson, editor
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